Chinese Container Meant to Deliver Electronics to Kenyan Parliament Arrives Empty

A container supposed to have delivered electronic equipment to Parliament from China arrived empty, not even with a sign of the contents it was supposed to deliver.

The Chinese container that was tagged ‘diplomatic goods’, according to the Clerk of the National Assembly, Michael Sialai, was delivered on 30^th July 2019 only to be found empty upon the opening of the seals.

The case that has now caught the attention of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) who is now probing the circumstances that could have led to the loss of the electronics or whether they were even loaded, to begin with.

Mr Sialai said that the Chinese Embassy in Nairobi contracted a company only identified as M/S Bollore Africa Transport & Logistics Limited to deliver the now missing consignment.

“Indeed a container arrived at Parliament Square on July 30, 2019, whence I appointed some officers from the National Assembly to confirm the delivery as per the correspondence from the consignee which is the Chinese Embassy,” Mr Sialai statement reads.

Mr Sialai’s statement goes ahead to explain that upon the opening of the seals, the container was confirmed to have been empty.

“Both the agent and our officers brought this matter to my attention and I made a decision that the DCI officers attached to the Parliament Road Police Station be informed of this development, which was done promptly,” Mr Sialai said.

Goods listed as supposed to have been in the container include laptops and computer projectors.

The missing donations from the National People’s Congress of China were to be delivered to Kenya via the Chinese Embassy.

The donations had been offered to Parliament during a visit by the Vice Chairman of the Committee of the National People’s Congress of China and a delegation of Chinese officials on April 13, 2019.

“While we remain grateful to our guest from the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Embassy in Nairobi for the planned donation, the National Assembly wishes to clarify that the matter is now in the hands of the consignee and their logistics partner,” Sialai noted.

Whether the electronic gadgets were ever loaded or whether they were offloaded remains unknown as all eyes are now turned to DCI Kinoti for in-depth investigations which would reveal the truth.

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